I need help choosing a keyboard...

[opethdw]

Hello everyone, I am very new to this scene of music... I have been playing guitar and drums for years but want to create electronic music similar to that of Nine Inch Nails. I downloaded a demo of Reason 3.0 and it seems like a great program, but supposedly you can't do much without a midi keyboard. I really don't even know where to start, first of all what do you guys think of Reason 3.0, and for around the $400.00 range, is their any better programs for creating this kind of music? Also, for the keyboard, price isn't an issue as I won't buy anything that sucks, I would just save up more and buy something of quality. Do I need a full size keyboard to create good quality music (61-88 keys), or can a smaller midi keyboard work good for what I want to do? Any suggestions on good keyboards, the cheaper the better, but I want something that will work good and isn't outdated. I know these are very broad questions, so thanks to anyone that helps me out... Also, any other information you want to throw in to help me understand how all this stuff works, would be greatly appreciated.

 

[ssscientist]

I would recommend you look at the M-Audio Axiom series. The one linked here is the 49 key model and, like you, I'm not a native keyboard player. This will cover the whole 88 note range and more thru the use of transpose buttons and is specifically supported by Reason. It's said to have a nice feel to the keyboard and transport buttons that interface directly with Reason.

If I was to buy a new controller keyboard now, this is the one I would get.

Here are links to two good articles on midi basics - part one and part two.


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[opethdw]

Thanks man, I'm gonna read up on those links and hopefully it will make more sense to me. One thing though, I know that's a 49 key model, how does it exactly cover all 88 notes? And also, for 50 bucks more, should I look at the M-Audio Axiom 61 key model?

 

[ssscientist]

You can if you want to, but for me the 49 key model is a nice convenient size. And the 61 key model doesn't have more controls, just more keys.

A smaller keyboard covers the whole range thru the use of transpose keys --- left for down and right for up. In other words, if I was playing a bass sound I would probably transpose the physical keys once to the left, or toward the lower end of the frequency spectrum.



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[opethdw]

Then having 61 keys, you would be able to transpose more sounds onto the keyboard, correct? I'm doing my best to follow but it's all very confusing. Another thing I wanted to ask you, what's the difference between this Midi Controller, and the more expensive Workstations? What extra features do those hold that these are lacking? And with this controller, do I transpose from Reason, basically setting sounds onto the keys? I'm still not 100% how this works, once you transpose sounds onto the keyboard, do they save onto the keyboard so if you were to play live, you could switch between different sounds without your computer?

 

[ssscientist]

do they save onto the keyboard so if you were to play live, you could switch between different sounds without your computer?

The sounds come from within Reason. Therefore you need to have a computer running Reason to be able to access the sound if you were to play live.

The word 'transpose' refers to the pitch of the note, not to any particular sound. Midi is a control language that carries no sound of its' own.

A workstation keyboard has a sequencer and sounds built into it. This midi controller is used to control a computer with sequencing and sound generation software, like Reason. The sounds stay in Reason, and you trigger them from the controller keyboard.

The Midi Basics columns I linked are 11 years old now, but midi hasn't changed. Read those with an open mind and feel free to post again if you have further questions.